Lily Allen says the term ‘nepo baby’ is sexist because it is only used for women

Singer-songwriter Lily Allen has suggested that the term “nepo baby” is sexist because it is only used for women.

Allen, 39, has said the term is “infantilising” and compared it to women getting called “Karen”, because it’s used exclusively for women.

“Nepo babies, I think it’s quite like ‘Karen’, in the sense that it’s just a word that is basically used for women who are taking up space and we’d rather they didn’t and they should just go away,” she said on her Miss Me? Podcast.

“I’m called a nepo baby all the time.”

“I actually don’t really mind the nepotism thing, it’s the ‘baby’ that annoys me, it’s like, I’m 40 years old nearly!”

“It’s meant to be infantilising. Also I think it’s something that is almost exclusively used for women, I don’t think I can even really name any male nepo babies.”

“My brother, for instance, doesn’t get called nepo baby and I do.”

Allen and her brother – actor Alfie Allen who played Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones – are the children of actor Keith Allen.

In recent years, debates about nepotism in Hollywood have pervaded both the internet and the entertainment industry. “Nepo baby” is the title ascribed to children of famous mothers and fathers who have been helped in their careers due to their parents’ connections.

“I feel like a lot of the time over the past 15, 20 years when I’ve been written about it will always say ‘Lily Allen, daughter of Keith Allen’ and I don’t see that happening with boys as often as it does with girls,” she said.

“It’s always like when we’re talking about women in these spaces.. there’s like a follow-up of what it really was that put them there.”

“There’s an element of truth to it, I grew up in a certain class bracket, I grew up in and amongst people that worked in media, and I don’t think I’ve ever really disputed that.”

Allen has previously spoken about nepotism in 2022, writing in a post on X that the “nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics”.

She added in another post: “And before you come at me for being a nepo baby myself, I will be the first to tell you that I literally deserve nothing.”

Allen has spoken about her and her father’s strained relationship in 2021, and in 2018 she revealed that they fell out over something she wrote in her memoir that year.

In her book, My Thoughts Exactly, Allen claimed that Keith had had a cocaine-related heart attack at Glastonbury Festival in 1998 when she was 14. She said this admission made her father “quite cross” and he claimed it was actually due to acute food poisoning.

Allen also said that she believes the “nepo baby” term comes from her generation of artists working for free to get their foot in the door.

“When we were young – especially in the creative industries – there was a lot of having to work for free for a long time in order to get your foot through the door.”

“I think that is a lot of the reason that we have this nepo baby conversation with our generation.”

“Because, it’s only people that are financially comfortable enough, or come from families with enough wealth, disposable income, to support their children while their children are working.”

“It’s only families that have got money to do that.”